


Row On Row

by Miko



Series: We Shall Keep The Faith [2]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Bath Houses, Coitus Interruptus, F/M, First Love, Nudity, Steve Rogers Needs A Kick In The Pants, Virgin Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 10:14:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4097107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miko/pseuds/Miko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve's not quite sure he believes that a mythical bath house spirit has taken an interest in his relationship with Peggy... but he's not complaining either way.</p><p> </p><p>This fic can stand alone if you're not interested in the rest of the series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Row On Row

**Author's Note:**

> I needed a break between the heavy emotional impact of the last fic and the arguably heavier emotional impact of the next one, so I went back and filled in the banya scene as someone had requested. ^_~

Afterwards, the locals insisted it had to have been the bannik, the spirit of the bath house. On hearing the - heavily edited, to protect Peggy’s reputation - story, the village elder had nodded solemnly. “If you see someone at the banya you know can’t be there, or who you find out later was somewhere else at the time, that’s the bannik. He’s got a sense of humour, he has. Always playing pranks. It’s best to be polite to anyone you encounter in the banya, just in case it’s him.”

Bucky swore up and down that he’d been asleep in their tent the whole time, and Steve had to admit that was exactly where he’d _expected_ his friend to be. Still, he wasn’t sure he believed that a creature out of a Russian fairy tale was to blame. It seemed far more likely that Bucky was just trying to avoid having Steve kick his ass for the practical joke.

Steve had been finishing up a night patrol, making his last round of the village in the pre-dawn darkness. The snow was falling heavily, and the lowered visibility combined with the way it muffled sound made Steve feel like he was the only person alive in the whole town.

The wind that blew off the frozen lake was cold like nothing Steve had ever experienced before. No amount of clothing was enough to keep it out; it crept under the hems and through the seams and inevitably found its way to chill the skin beneath. Walls and doors weren’t much barrier either, whether they were in the wooden village houses or the canvas army tents used by the Commandos.

And at that, Steve knew he had it far better than any of the others. His unnaturally elevated body temperature helped him stay warm if he wore enough layers, and his rapid healing meant he didn’t have to worry as much about frostbite. That was good for him, but not so great for the rest - sometimes he didn’t realize that conditions had gotten too bad for the others to be able to continue, because he was still functioning well enough. 

If not for Peggy’s determined harassment of them all, somebody would surely have lost toes and fingers to the frost by now. She badgered and bullied them into bundling up, making certain the bottom layers were always clean and dry, especially their socks, and ensuring they all had enough fuel for the warming braziers the villagers had sold them. Wrapped in half a dozen blankets in a tightly closed tent with one of those braziers filled to the top with burning charcoal, it got just about warm enough to finally start to thaw out.

It was her previous experience with the weather conditions of this area of Russia that was going to keep all of his men alive and whole, and Steve deferred to her expertise with a deep sense of gratitude. As usual, he didn’t know what the Hell he’d have done without her. A few of the men had made jokes in the beginning about Peggy ‘playing mom’, but she’d shut them down quickly with well placed barbed comments and even better placed - if more sparingly administered - punches. It wasn’t as fun to tease a dame you knew could lay you out flat.

The other thing that saved them from a frozen, icy grave was that the villagers had been welcoming enough to allow the Commandos use of their steam house, what they called a ‘banya’. For a fee, but Peggy had insisted Steve pay it and he’d had no reason to regret it. Sitting in the little cedar building was like being in an oven, and it was the fastest and surest way they had of getting warm.

Of course, there were some logistical issues. The villagers were shy of the Commandos and tended not to want to share the space with them, so Steve had ordered his men to only use the banya if it was empty and not to stay too long. That was doubly important since the women of the village also used the same building, and he didn’t want an incident where one or more of the Commandos walked in on a local girl and invited potential accusations. They’d worked out a system of signs to hang on the door to indicate to everyone who was inside.

And then there was poor Peggy who, being neither fish nor fowl, could only use the banya when nobody else wanted it. She couldn’t share with the Commandos and she couldn’t share with the village women, and Steve knew for a fact she was going cold more often than not as a result. He’d pressured her into taking more than her ration of blankets and two of the braziers, but it wasn’t enough. Especially since there was nobody sharing her tent to help add body heat to combat the night’s chill.

Bucky had been ribbing him endlessly about it, insisting that Steve should go offer _his_ body heat to keep her warm. Tempting as the thought might be, it was unfortunately not a practical solution.

Though if he had to continue watching her try to hide her shivers as she crawled into her tent for the night while the rest of the Commandos headed for the banya, Steve might just change his mind and stay behind to warm her up after all. It wasn’t like it would be a _hardship_ for him. Assuming she didn’t slap him just for the suggestion, that was. He knew he was going to put a foot too far over the line one of these days, but it kept not happening and it left him uncertain where exactly the line was.

Ahead through the snow Steve made out the shape of someone moving around just outside the banya. He was near the centre of the village, so it was unlikely to be an enemy, but better safe than sorry. “Who goes there?” he called. The villagers didn’t speak English and he was only starting to pick up some Russian, but Peggy had taught them all a couple of key phrases. 

In this case, they weren’t necessary, since the answer came both in English and in a familiar voice. “Hey pal, it’s just me,” Bucky replied. “Finished your patrol?”

“Just about,” Steve said, relaxing his grip on his shield as he came close enough to see his friend clearly. “What are you doing awake so early? Sun’s not up for another hour at least.”

“It’s too fucking cold to sleep in the tent when you’re not there,” Bucky grumbled. “You’re worth two of those heater things. Figured nobody would be using the banya at this hour, and I was right. You should join me, you’ve gotta be freezing after eight hours tramping around. You only make everyone else run four hours at a time.”

“That’s because the rest of you will have no feet or hands left if I keep you on patrol for a full eight hours,” Steve said. He’d initiated the split shift patrols at Peggy’s suggestion, and while everyone complained about the way it made their schedules so irregular, they also appreciated the time between shifts to get warm again. “I need to finish my rounds and meet up with Falsworth to be relieved, but I could come join you after.”

“You make sure you do that,” Bucky insisted, punching him in the shoulder. “I know you supposedly can’t get sick any more, but I still have nightmares about the last time you caught pneumonia.”

“You and me both,” Steve admitted with a grimace. That had been a nasty bout, and deep down he hadn’t been sure he would survive the winter. He’d had this impossibly healthy body for less than a year now, and the memory of weeks spent struggling just to breathe remained sharp in his mind. “All right, you go ahead and get it warm. I’ll be back before you’re ready for the steam.”

Now that he had something better to look forward to, the cold seemed even worse than before. Steve was shivering by the time he met up with Falsworth, and knowing it was partially in his head didn’t stop him from feeling it. He at least managed to keep his teeth from chattering, though he had to grit them to do it. 

He didn’t even bother to hit their tent long enough to ditch his gear, just turned around and backtracked straight to the banya. As he came in through the first door, into the antechamber where they were supposed to strip down, Steve could already smell the heated cedar and the smoke from the burning fuel. It was amazing how quickly he’d come to associate those scents with pleasure, and his muscles started to relax with no input from him as he removed his clothes. He shoved them into the nearest cubby, spotting the army khaki of Bucky’s uniform neatly folded on another shelf. All the rest were empty, so it would just be the two of them.

When he opened the inner door, heat and steam billowed out at him in an enticing wave. The steam was heavy enough that Steve could just make out the pale form of his friend’s body draped face-down over one of the benches. “Hey, I thought you were gonna wait for me to put the steam on?”

“Oh my God, Steve!”

He froze, heart pounding, because that had _not_ been Bucky’s voice. “Peggy?” he exclaimed, strangled. “That’s... I don’t... you...”

She’d bolted upright with shock, which of course was the worst thing she could have done because at least lying down most of the important bits hadn’t been visible. The only thing preserving her modesty now was the steam, and it wasn’t doing a very good job. Flustered, she tried to cover herself with her hands, and belatedly Steve kicked his brain into gear enough to make him turn around and stare at the wall instead.

“Why didn’t you check the sign?” Peggy demanded, sounding torn between mortification and frustration. “Surely if I go to the trouble of getting up at oh-dark-hundred, I deserve a chance to get warm as well!”

“I did,” Steve protested. He had checked, hadn’t he? He tried to visualize the door as it had looked when he’d entered, but the only image his mind was producing was that glimpse of Peggy’s lithe, sweat-covered body. The heat that was rushing through him had nothing to do with the fires in the ovens. “I _just_ saw Bucky outside and he told me to meet him in here as soon as I was done my patrol. How long have you been here?”

Long enough that she’d added the steam and worked up a good sweat, which meant there was no way she hadn’t been here when he’d been speaking to Bucky just a few minutes ago. Bucky had been standing right outside the banya door; he’d have known if Peggy’s sign was up, and he’d specifically said it was empty.

“Son of a bitch,” Steve swore, covering his face with one hand. He ought to have realized something was wrong the moment he saw that the second uniform was folded. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. But he set me up.”

He should go, he _knew_ he should go, but he couldn’t seem to make himself take the first step back to the entrance. The banya was so blessedly warm and he was still shivering after eight hours in the snow, but most of all that enticing picture of Peggy was just not letting go of his brain. 

If he didn’t know the others sometimes peeked at his sketchbook, that image would have been going straight into it. Not that he could hope to do her justice, but it would have helped to cement the memory in his mind forever. 

“Well,” Peggy said, from much closer behind him than he’d expected. Steve jumped, and just barely stopped himself from looking over his shoulder to check her position. “It does seem a shame to put all his effort to waste, then.”

Then he jumped again when she touched him, her fingers brushing over his back just below his ribs. Disbelieving, Steve turned his head and looked, and found her right behind him with a hopeful expression on her face. She was thankfully too close for him to see much more than that, but it also meant she was close enough that it wouldn’t take much to remove the distance entirely. And God, he wanted to take that last step. “Peggy?”

She licked her lips, and Steve couldn’t stop his eyes from following the gesture. It made him far too aware of the lush softness of her mouth, and the way the heat brought extra colour to her lips and cheeks. Peggy gave him a smile that was mostly inviting and only a little uncertain. “Don’t tell me I’m being too forward for you? I’d think we’re beyond the point where you’d be expecting a demure, blushing maiden.”

Heart pounding, Steve shifted slowly to face her, watching her expression carefully in case he was somehow misreading her after all. “I’m probably doing enough blushing for both of us,” he said, his voice husky as he caught her hands in his. 

Not only did she not pull back, she took another step closer, so she was a bare inch away from him now. “That’s true, but if ‘maiden’ is a description that fits you, we have a separate problem.” She raised an eyebrow at him, then deliberately dropped her eyes, letting him see the progression as she scanned down his chest and lower still. 

All the air rushed out of his lungs, the heat of her gaze so palpable he could almost feel it. The sly little quirk to her lips when she reached her visual destination made him want to kiss her so badly he could hardly stand it. “No, I think we’ll have to find a different description,” she confirmed, lifting her eyes back to his.

Her cheeks were no less flushed than his, but he thought there was more to it than just embarrassment. There certainly was for him, though honestly he was a little surprised there was enough blood left to make it to his face. Since she’d started it, he felt justified in letting his gaze drop as well, memorizing every curve and texture as he went. 

Steve had seen nude women before. Quite a few times, despite what he knew most people thought of him. Only, they’d all been models in the art classes he’d taken, and looking at Peggy standing there a breath away was _not_ the same thing as looking at an unknown dame posed artfully on a pedestal on the other side of the room. 

“God, you’re gorgeous,” he blurted out, and blushed all the harder when he heard how stupid he sounded. Bucky always made delivering smooth, charming lines look so _easy_ , why didn’t it ever work for Steve?

She didn’t seem to mind, though, still giving him that enticing little smile. “You didn’t turn out half bad, yourself. It’s not your looks that I love, darling, but I can’t say I’ll ever get tired of seeing you shirtless.” Her gaze flicked down again, and her smile grew mischievous. “Or minus any other articles of clothing you may choose to forego.”

There really wasn’t much he could say in answer that wouldn’t risk getting him in trouble one way or another, so Steve decided to forget about words entirely and go for actions instead. Leaning down, he met her mouth with his, shy but passionate. She returned his kiss willingly, pulling her hands free so she could place them on his chest, fingertips exploring over his muscles the way she always seemed to love to do.

Not that Steve was complaining. Oh Hell, no. Her fascination with his chest just gave him an excuse to return the favour. He rested his hands on her ribcage first, feeling the way it expanded as she drew in a sharp breath in response to the touch. When he slid his hands up she exhaled on a soft moan that went straight to his groin. 

The weight of her breasts was just enough to be noticeable, and the soft flesh was the perfect size to fill his hands. Her nipples were stiff at attention, pressing into his palms, and he had to stifle a groan of his own at the feel of them.

They’d gotten this far a few times before, sort of. Always with clothes still on, but he’d learned how she liked to be touched, how to rub and tweak her nipples to make her squirm and cry out breathlessly against his mouth. 

They were alone, they were in a relatively comfortable place, and with the sign that Bucky had undoubtedly put back up they weren’t going to be interrupted. If Steve was careful leaving, nobody would even know he’d been in here with Peggy. 

There was never going to be a better chance.

Steve took another step closer, or maybe she did, and for one brief, glorious moment they were pressed together from hips to chest, the hard length of him trapped between them in a way that made him dizzy with pleasure.

The faint scream of an incoming shell was a sound that had become embedded in Steve’s hindbrain, and he reacted to it before he even realized what he was hearing. Grabbing her, he flung them both away from the ovens, huddled into the far corner of the banya with her on the floor and him crouched over her protectively. The wall where they’d been standing exploded a moment later, and Steve grunted as flying splinters and chips of wood dug into his back. None of it was on fire, thank God - the ovens were still intact, but there was no telling how long that would remain true.

Another shell landed elsewhere in the village, and Steve heard screams from the people nearby mixed with the sound of distant gunfire.

“Well, _shit_ ,” Peggy exclaimed. Steve stared down at her, wide-eyed, and she glared right back up at him. “I’m not apologizing for that. Bloody HYDRA. A _month_ with no sign of them, and they choose now to show themselves? They really do have spies set on us, don’t they.”

The situation was too serious for laughter, but Steve had to fight back a chuckle anyway. It had become a running joke between them, the mythical spies who waited for the ‘perfect’ moment to signal for an attack, but like her he was starting to wonder if it actually _was_ a joke. 

“We’d better hope our clothes survived the blast, or we’re never going to hear the end of the teasing,” he pointed out, and she smothered a snicker of her own. 

They kissed one last time, fierce and filled with frustrated longing, before they broke apart to scramble through the debris after their uniforms. Steve was surprised to realize he was grinning like a lunatic. Then again, being with Peggy often made him feel like he was losing his mind.

He made a mental note to thank Bucky profusely, later. It wasn’t his friend’s fault they’d been interrupted, after all.

Right after he kicked the jerk’s ass for setting him up like that.


End file.
